A policeman is seen at the site of one of two bomb blasts which occurred on August 11, 2016, in Hua Hin, south of Bangkok, Thailand, in this still image taken from video August 12, 2016. REUTERS/REUTERS TV/Files

Thai police link beach-town bombings to Muslim insurgency

Thai police identified on Monday a third suspect wanted in connection with a wave of bombs in tourist towns this month that killed four people and for the first time linked the attacks to Muslim separatists operating in the far south.

Officials investigate at the scene of bomb blasts in the tourist beach town of Patong on Phuket island, Thailand in this still image from video August 12, 2016. REUTERS/Reuters TV

Thailand’s tourist industry had been largely spared a spill-over of violence from a decades-old insurgency in the far south and authorities had at first dismissed any connection between the Aug. 11-12 bombings and the separatists.

But police issuing an arrest warrant for a third suspect on Monday said all three of the people they wanted to question had links to previous attacks blamed on the Muslim insurgents.

“The three suspects for whom we have obtained arrest warrants are known to have ties to other previous attacks in the southern provinces,” deputy national police spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen told Reuters. Read More